Alabama Administrative Code
Title 290 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Chapter 290-3-3 - TEACHER EDUCATION - PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Section 290-3-3-.07 - Early Childhood Education (Grades P-3)

Universal Citation: AL Admin Code R 290-3-3-.07

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 11, August 30, 2024

(1) Rationale. This rule brings attention to those elements that are distinctive to the early childhood education program. These elements represent the unique nature of early childhood education encompassing the foundations of learning including play, developmentally appropriate practices, and integration within and across disciplines, which create a bridge between informal and formal learning environments. The standards are consistent with the standards for initial licensure programs from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). These standards build upon the Alabama Core Teaching Standards.

(2) Program Curriculum. In addition to meeting Rules 290-3-3-.03(6)(a)1. -4., 290-3-3-.03(6)(e)1. and 2.(i) and (vi), 290-3-3-.04, and 290-3-3-.05, the early childhood education curriculum shall require a teaching field of at least 30 semester hours with at least 18 semester hours of upper-division credit. For candidates unconditionally admitted to a program December 15, 2020, and thereafter, the program shall require no less than nine semester hours of reading or literacy coursework, or both, based on the science of learning to read, including multisensory strategies in foundational reading skills.

(a) Child Development and Learning in Context.
1. Candidates demonstrate they understand:
(i) The developmental period of early childhood from birth through age 8 across physical, cognitive, social and emotional, and linguistic domains, including bilingual/ multilingual developmental domains.

(ii) Each child's value as an individual with unique developmental variations, experiences, strengths, interests, abilities, challenges, approaches to learning, and with the capacity to make choices.

(iii) The ways that child development and the learning process occur within relationships and within multiple contexts, including family, culture, language, community, and early learning settings, as well as in a larger societal context that includes structural inequities.

2. Prior to program completion prospective early childhood teachers demonstrate their multidimensional knowledge about the developmental period of early childhood, individual children, and development and learning in cultural contexts to make evidence-based decisions that support each child.

(b) Family-Teacher Partnerships and Community Connections.
1. Candidates demonstrate they:
(i) Understand successful early childhood education depends upon educators' partnerships with the families of the young children they serve.

(ii) Value the diversity in family characteristics and use this knowledge to create respectful, responsive, reciprocal relationships with families and engage with them as partners in their young children's development and learning.

2. Prior to program completion prospective early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to:
(i) Collaborate as partners with families in their children's development and learning through respectful, reciprocal relationships and engagement.

(ii) Use community resources to support young children's learning and development and support children's families, and they build connections between early learning settings, schools, and community organizations and agencies.

(c) Child Observation, Documentation and Assessment.
1. Candidates demonstrate they understand:
(i) That the primary purpose of assessments is to inform instruction and planning in early learning settings.

(ii) How to use observation, documentation, and other appropriate assessment approaches and tools.

(iii) That assessments (formal and informal, formative and summative) are conducted to make informed choices about instruction and for planning in early learning settings.

(iv) A wide range of types of assessments, their purposes, and their associated methods and tools.

2. Prior to program completion prospective early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to:
(i) Use screening and assessment tools in ways that are ethically grounded and developmentally, ability, culturally, and linguistically appropriate in order to document developmental progress and promote positive outcomes for each child.

(ii) Build assessment partnerships with families and professional colleagues.

(d) Developmentally, Culturally, and Linguistically Appropriate Teaching Strategies.
1. Candidates demonstrate they understand that teaching and learning with young children is a complex enterprise, and its details vary depending on children's ages and characteristics and on the settings in which teaching and learning occur.

2. Prior to program completion prospective early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to use:
(i) Positive, caring, supportive relationships and interactions as the foundation of early childhood's educators' work with young children.

(ii) Teaching skills that are responsive to the learning trajectories of young children and to the needs of each child, recognizing that differentiating instruction, incorporating play as a core teaching practice, and supporting the development of executive function skills critical for young children.

(iii) A broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically relevant, anti-bias, evidence-based teaching skills and strategies that reflect principles of universal design for learning.

(e) Knowledge, Application, and Integration of Academic Content in the Early Childhood Curriculum.
1. Candidates demonstrate they:
(i) Know the content of the academic disciplines (e.g., language and literacy, the arts, mathematics, social studies, science, technology and engineering, physical education) and of the pedagogical methods for teaching each discipline.

(ii) Understand the central concepts, the methods and tools of inquiry, and the structures in each academic discipline.

(iii) Understand pedagogy, including how young children learn and process information in each discipline, the learning trajectories for each discipline, and how teachers use this knowledge to inform their practice.

2. Prior to program completion prospective early childhood teachers demonstrate ability to:
(i) Use content knowledge - the central concepts, methods and tools of inquiry, and structure - and resources for the academic disciplines in an early childhood curriculum.

(ii) Use pedagogical content knowledge - how young children learn in each discipline - to support young children's learning in each content area.

(iii) Apply their knowledge to make decisions about spontaneous and planned learning experiences and about curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation to ensure that learning will be stimulating, challenging, and meaningful to each child.

(iv) Modify teaching practices by applying, expanding, integrating, and updating their content knowledge in the disciplines, their knowledge of curriculum content resources, and their pedagogical content knowledge.

(v) Use a variety of strategies (to include explicit and systematic instruction, guided practice, error correction and corrective feedback, and multisensory language instruction) to teach foundational reading skills based on the science of learning to read, to include oral language development, phonological awareness, phonics instruction, writing, vocabulary, and comprehension, in accordance with the Alabama Course of Study: English Language Arts.

(f) Professionalism as an Early Childhood Educator. Candidates demonstrate awareness that they need to:
1. Identify and participate as members of the early childhood profession, serving as informed advocates for young children, families, and the early childhood profession.

2. Know and use ethical guidelines and other early childhood professional guidelines.

3. Have professional communication skills that effectively support their relationships and work with young children, families, and colleagues.

4. Be continuous, collaborative learners who develop and sustain the habit of reflective and intentional practice in their daily work with young children and as a member of the early childhood profession.

(g) Unique Field Experience and Internship Placement Requirements.
1. Field experiences shall include placements in at least two of the three main types of early education settings (early school grades, childcare centers and homes, and Office of School Readiness programs.)

2. The internship shall include a placement with at least two of the following age groups: birth-age 3, age 3-5, age 5 -8.

(3) Faculty. The faculty must include at least three full-time persons with doctorates and with professional educational work experience in early childhood education (Grades P-3). At least one faculty member shall have a major specialization in early childhood education and one in reading.

Previous Rule.05 was renumbered.07 per certification published August 31, 2021; effective October 15, 2021.

Author: Dr. Eric G. Mackey

Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 16-3-16, 16-23-14.

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